


Remember This

by chemiglee



Series: Not Like This [3]
Category: Glee
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-21
Updated: 2013-06-21
Packaged: 2017-12-15 17:14:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/852002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chemiglee/pseuds/chemiglee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sugar has a party for the new New Directions.  Sam and Tina think about their futures. </p><p>This is a sequel story to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/757830/chapters/1417037">Not Like This / Like This</a>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Remember This

I  
" _Look_ at this place, dude." 

Sam had to put his sunglasses on to deal with all the light bellowing in, so he dropped the soda in the middle of the foyer. The bottles fell on their bottoms, bounced up, and rolled over and over and over in their plastic bag until they hit the spiralling staircase. Tina didn't even notice. "I can't believe Sugar's house has a remote-controlled gate. And that's a real chandelier all the way up there." She twirled around in graceful pirouettes, tracing the circumference of the grand foyer around Sam in her bow-tipped flats. Her purple skirt flew as she spun.

Sam scuffed his sandals on the marble floor and pointed his right arm out, straight. "Are those stained glass windows? I've only seen those at church. And I didn't know you did ballet."

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Sam," Tina grabbed at the arm and stopped, slightly out of breath. 

"Whaddaya think, is this place a mansion or a castle?"

"A castle has a moat around it." 

"What's a moat?" He peered around. It was weird that a voice could echo in a regular room in someone's house, but this wasn't just any house. Tina tried to give Sam a friendly, if blind, poke in the ribs, and he swerved to miss her unaccountably pointy elbow. 

"It's, like, a pool all around the building, and you reach it by crossing over a drawbridge." 

"Like in _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_?" 

She skipped over to pick up the soda bottles. "Or _The Princess Bride_." 

"This is kinda like Cheryl's house in _Archer_. Like we're going to run into an ocelot if we hang around enough." 

"I like the castle in _The Princess Bride_ better." She shoved the bag into Sam's hand and he put it down next to his feet. 

"Think maybe we can live in houses like this one day?" Sam whispered. He put a hand to the back of his neck and stretched it to loosen a sudden crimp. A hot pizza smell drifted in on air-conditioned blasts, and his stomach growled. 

"Maybe," she said cheerfully, "if we work hard and succeed and all that stuff, but if you want to live in this house, you'd have to move back here, marry Sugar, and become a piano king's son-in-law."

"Say hello to my little friend," rasped Sam/Tony Montana, with a swing of his pelvis for emphasis.

Tina scowled. "You're not Sugar's type at all. No, no, no, no, I won't be here. I'm leaving Lima. No. Matter. What." She gave the gleaming front door a little assertive nod and a smile, lips closed, to rival the dying daylight. 

"Dude, I'm leaving Lima too," Sam protested. "Kentucky or New York."

"Kentucky?" Tina said in astonishment. They could hear some muffled P!nk from somewhere in the back of the house. "Your family? Oh, Sam, we'd miss you so much. I mean, we'd all understand, but - "

"But I miss my family. Stacey and Stevie were so tall when they came to see me. And my _parents_."

"Yeah," Tina tilted her head. "I know. Whenever Seth and Joanna come back from college they look more grown up." She reached over and rubbed his shoulder blade. "Hey, I bet that's how Stacey and Stevie think of you." 

"Awww, c'mere," and Sam draped a friendly tanned arm around her shoulder. "You're sweet."

Tina looked down at his hand uncertainly, the smile melting off of her lips. "Sam? You know... you and I aren't exactly the closest and - "

"I'm tired of that stuff," Sam said, exasperated. "Yeah, I've said dick things to you, but you say dick things, too. But I'm not judging you. And for the record, I'm upgrading you from sort-of hot to" - he flattened his palm out and rotated his wrist, so-so, so-so - "middle-of-the-road hot, like Selena Gomez."

Tina scrunched up her face and fake-punched him in the stomach. "Middle-of-the-road hot? You're still a dick. And Selena Gomez is one hundred percent smoking hot."

"I'm the biggest one, darlin'," Sam wiggled his eyebrows.

"Does Brittany know what a treasure she has?" and her unaccountably pointy elbow found its mark this time. 

Sam winced. "Ow, Tina, that's just how I joke," he protested. "You didn't even realize I told you I thought you were hot. You'll hot up wherever you're going - where?" 

Tina's bright smile fell before his searching look. "I'm hoping New York. Or Columbus." She draped her arm around his waist. It was nice to be friends, well, sort-of friends, and it was nice especially after their fight, but all the drama was over and they could all have amazing good times before they all escaped the cradle to go - who knew where. 

"Columbus?" A frank, astonished look spread over his face. He talked fast. "But that's barely out of Lima. You should go to New York. You're a star, Tina, just like everyone else."

"I guess so. I just don't feel it. Mr. Schue doesn't let me shine."

"Don't listen to Mr. Schue. You'll get into whatever school in New York and dance, dude. Remember the picture I made? That's you. Not whatever it is in Columbus you think you want to be." 

"Vet school," she muttered.

"Vet school? What the fucking hell, Tina."

"People tell me to shut up all the time. You're my friend, you're supposed to be supportive, _dude_ ," and she bumped his arm off of her shoulders and shoved him away. 

"That wasn't that bad," Sam protested. Tina sat on the third stair and hugged her knees, and the forlorn look on her face melted his heart just a little bit. It just took three quick, long strides to reach her. He sat and stretched out his legs. "I promise, me and Blaine will help you figure it out. And even if it is Columbus - " Tina's face twisted - "I promise..." and he shifted to a booming Scottish accent while his arm swept over Sugar's grand foyer, "one day, lad, this will all be yours."

She squeezed up her throat for a witchy crackle and belly laughed to echo in the room. "What, the curtains?"

"No, not the curtains, lad!" and instead of a smack, Sam ruffled her hair, "All that you can see! Stretched out over the hills and valleys of this land!"

"Can we just quote _The Princess Bride_ instead?" she asked plaintively. "I get enough Monty Python when they're home for Christmas and we all have to watch the DVDs while we eat leftover fruitcake."

He gave a mock sigh. "You know, it's okay to watch other stuff."

Tina flipped her hair and looked at Sam over her shoulder. "You need to deal with your _Zoolander_ addiction before you lecture me about watching movies over and over."

Sam smirked and opened his mouth to answer, but Blaine, stepping over the marble floor swiftly on soft feet, did it for him. He carried Tina's cupcake trays and the sunniest of sunny smiles above his striped red and blue henley. Blaine was a latte of heart topped up with love-for-humanity whipped cream, Tina thought fondly, and it was just no wonder she'd crushed on him so hard ( _stop it, Tina, remember what you learned_ ). It was always nice to see him happy - 

"Oh, great! I love it when we do this! Why do you hate models, Matilda?" Blaine tilted his head and sucked in his cheeks to make a credible Blue Steel with his lips. 

\- even if his jokes with Sam were still awful. Tina parroted, "Honestly?" and looked down her nose through imaginary glasses. 

"Yeah," Sam said, and pouted, and flicked up the tops of an imaginary collar. He nudged the side of his nose with his thumb. 

"I think they're vain, stupid, and incredibly self-centered," Tina said waspishly, rolling her hand: can-we-please-get-this-joke-finished?

Sam said, very seriously, "I totally agree with you. But how do you feel about male models?" He broke out into guffaws and Blaine's face turned red, jiggling the cupcake trays, as his shoulders shook. 

"You two are adorkable," Tina said, "but your _Zoolander_ impression is getting better, Blainey." She stood up and stepped down to meet him. She thrust out her arms. 

"As my lady commands," Blaine said gallantly, still gasping a little for air. He passed the trays over to her and fistbumped Sam. She gave Blaine a jolly hip-bump and he ruffled her hair, too. "Come on, boys. I need my two knights in shining armor. The party awaits!" 

The music pounded, and they could hear Unique's high laugh soaring above Sugar's, and "Woooooooo!" from Jake and Joe. Blaine curled an arm through her elbow on the left and Sam loped an arm through her elbow on the right, and now everything was always as it should be. Except Mike. She breezily sailed off with the trays in hand, following the heavy smell of greasy pepperoni, and the two boys had to shorten their steps to keep up with Tina's clipped ones. She heard Sam chattering to Blaine: "Dude, we should totally do _Zoolander_ for Halloween in New York! We just have to get Tina into a K-Mart jacket..." and "Shhhh, shhhh..." from Blaine. She vaguely felt their arms pull out and their hands lunge towards her. So, it really wasn't a surprise. Blaine's fingers dug softly in the ribs on her left and Sam's fingers prodded her in the side underneath her elbows on the right, and somehow they always found those just-right sweet spots where - 

"Guys! Guys! Oh, oh god!" and Tina doubled over. They both curled their fingertips firmly in her sides and grinned like fools. She twisted and hopped and wriggled from side to side and up and down in a cascade of giggles. When her knee hit the bottom of the lidded trays, the lidded trays jerked upwards and flew forward like a soccer ball, and oh damn, it took forever to ice those things - but Sam caught them all neatly before they could flip over and smash their lusciously topped heads.

Blaine lent her a hand and helped her straighten up, still laughing. "That was fun, Tay-Tay. We should do that more often."

"Next time, me and Sam will get you back really good," Tina warned, shaking a finger at his barely contrite naughty schoolboy face. Sam wiggled his eyebrows up and down at Blaine while the trays twirled precariously in his fingertips. "Come at me, bros!" Blaine hopped on his heels from side to side. He held out his right hand, palm up, and flipped the fingers up, twice. Sam pushed the trays back into Tina's arms and crouched his right shoulder towards Blaine in a tackle, ready to charge.

Sugar's head popped out from behind the wall. "Boys!" she tootled, "no football! Singing first, then football! Whatever I decide we all do!" She tugged and pulled at the back of Blaine's shirt and he stumbled backwards as she dragged him away. "Don't start playing before I'm ready!" he called out, voice trailing out, as they disappeared. 

"I played football with Seth's friends all the time. Not well, but I'm better at it than you think."

"I never mess with a lady," Sam drawled, and picked up the bags of soda. He offered her his arm, she took it, and they trailed uncertainly off after Blaine and Sugar, following the thump-thump of the bass and the delicious, delicious pizza smell. 

II  
Jake turned the speaker volume up as Sam and Tina got in. 

They dropped off the party fare on a long table on the opposite side of the biggest widescreen TV that either Sam or Tina had ever seen. The girls - Unique, Kitty, Marley and Sugar - were all bouncing around on the stage in front of the karaoke machine. Artie was blowing kisses at Kitty. Blaine was settling down on a cushy blue sofa with a bowl of buttered popcorn. Ryder was clapping his hands in the air and Joe had his mouth and hands full of oily pepperoni and cheese. He raised his paper plate to them. Sam stage-whispered: "That karaoke machine looks like the control center at NASA."

The Buckeyes game was on in the background, but no one was watching. Someone had turned it all the way down. There was an air hockey table and fooseball and video game consoles and a fridge and a liquor cabinet - shit, why didn't they have more parties here? Blaine patted the seat cushions next to him and Tina and Sam fell on it at the same time. Popcorn flew up and Tina stole a kernel from the front of Blaine's shirt. She popped it in her mouth. Blaine grinned at her. 

Marley was starting them off with Taylor Swift: _It feels like a perfect night to dress up like hipsters / And make fun of our exes, ah ah, ah ah_

Unique chimed in with her, her back against Marley's, as they swayed: _It feels like a perfect night for breakfast at midnight / To fall in love with strangers, ah ah, ah ah_

Now, Kitty's turn, voice soaring: _Yeah / We're happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time_

Kitty gestured _c'mere_ to Tina and she jumped off the sofa from where she'd been comfortably squished between Blaine and Sam and she kept singing: _It's miserable and magical, oh, yeah_

Tina grabbed the last spare mike and now the line was hers: Tonight's the night when we forget about the deadlines / It's time 

Then all the girls all together, and it was a wall of happy, excited sound as the boys hollered and clapped to cheer them on:

_Uh oh! / I don't know about you_  
 _But I'm feeling 22_  
 _Everything will be alright_  
 _If you keep me next to you_  
 _You don't know about me_  
 _But I'll bet you want to_  
 _Everything will be alright_  
 _If we just keep dancing like we're / 22_

As the song skipped on, Sam put his sunglasses back in his pocket. "You doing all right, dude?"

"Oh yeah," Blaine replied, his hands full of popcorn. "I feel great now. I feel like I can really concentrate on school now, Cheerios, Glee, Student Council, all of it. I don't have to have so many espresso shots."

"I'll take that as a yes, I'm cool," Sam said. 

Blaine gave him a sidelong glance. "Did you think about Kentucky some more?"

Despite the peppy beat, Sam felt tendrils of cloud sail by over his head. "I got accepted to a few schools there, and I can always go to a community college close to my family, too."

"But you don't want to go," Blaine said succinctly. He put the bowl down on the coffee table with a little emphatic bang. "You can go anywhere for college, Sam. You're so talented at art and you deserve a good education like everyone else."

"It's just that - I came to Lima for you guys. You're all my best friends, but I feel guilty I had to leave them to do it. Sometimes I feel like I should go to Kentucky. And anyway, if I don't get into those schools in New York, Kentucky is all I'll have and you guys will be gone."

"You aren't going to lose us," Blaine said tightly. "I'll - we'll all make sure you won't." 

"Pass me over some of that New York confidence, Blaine, and I'll be all right." Sam shook himself out of his light drizzly gloom and poured out a cup of Mountain Dew. 

"You'll always be all right with me."

"I know," Sam said suggestively. He did a mock body-roll out of the sofa and some of his soda spilled out of his cup and onto his zipper. Blaine groaned and tossed one of Sugar's mother's pink-feathered pillows at him, and Sam barely got the cup back on the coffee table before it slapped him in the nuts. Sugar's mother preferred the hard stuffing. 

"Come on," Blaine thumped his palm on Sam's chest, "It's our turn to show the ladies how it's done."

III  
The boys were strutting their stuff on stage like strippers. Unique, Marley and Sugar were standing in front, screaming and tossing over fake money that Sugar had rooted through all the board games to find. 

Blaine and Sam were singing the chorus now: _Cause I don't wanna lose you now / I'm lookin' right at the other half of me / The vacancy that sat in my heart / Is a space that now you hold_

It felt strange to be talking to her, but it was happening. Kitty looked cute in a neon green t-shirt and skinny patterned jeans. "So he's dating some hot chick in Chicago? Well, that bites." She shook her head. Her feathered earrings jangled from side to side.

"She's probably tall and blonde and gorgeous," Tina moaned into the pink-feathered pillow. "How do I compete with that?"

Artie and Joe chimed in: _Show me how to fight for now/ And I'll tell you baby, it was easy / Comin' back into you once I figured it out / You were right here all along_

"He didn't date tall and blonde and gorgeous for two years, did he?" Kitty said. "Life's not over. Ryder might be good for a ride or two. I'd say Artie, since you two didn't bump uglies when you dated, did you?" - Tina blushed - "but he'll have a lap full of Kitty Cat before the night's over, so the Artie is a no-no." 

Ryder and Jake had joined in and Marley looked like she was going to swoon with every swivel of Jake's hips. Tina threw the boy band on stage a passing glance. "Well, Ryder's sort of cute, but - hey! I can't do that, he's too young for me. And Artie and I are just friends now."

"So sail solo, then." Kitty negligently kicked off her heels and put her feet on the coffee table, next to the Doritos. "Time to get your woman confidence back, Cohen-Chang. You don't need a man to be your mirror. Not Mike and - " Kitty paused - "not Blaine. The man should be able to sing Against All Odds again without you pining away and dying inside."

Tina glared at Kitty. "Wow, that is none of your business, bitch." 

"Someone had to say it. Best if it comes from one bitch to another bitch."

"I hear it every time people bring up that fucking phase." 

"Yeah, well," Kitty said, picking up what was left of Sam's Mountain Dew and draining it loudly, "know how to derail one gossip train? Start another. Do something else and I promise they'll all pay attention to that instead. Didn't you take teen queen drama lessons when Santana and Quinn were still going to school here?"

"I was too busy with Mike," Tina snorted. The girls near the stage looked like they were going to overload. The boys ate it all up, winking and whirling and pointing. Testosterone oozed out of their sweaty pores. Kitty didn't answer her except for a narrow-eyed gleam in her blue eyes after she saw Tina distractedly flick her tongue over her lip gloss. 

It was Blaine and Artie's turn: _It's like you're my mirror / My mirror staring back at me / I couldn't get any bigger / With anyone else beside me_

"So, Artie, huh?" Tina coughed. She curled up and propped her head on her hand to look back at Kitty. "He's adorable. I'm not surprised."

"It's nice that you're okay with it," Kitty said archly. Her empty cup clattered onto the the floor. "Some girls wouldn't be. But he's sweet and he likes my sass."

"Are you going to be upset when he graduates?" Tina picked up a plain potato chip and pretended to be very interested in examining it. 

The side of Kitty's mouth twitched as she picked the cup up from the floor. "I don't think so. He knows the score. I think we're just friends having fun. How long's it been since you had any fun, lame or not?"

"Do double tickle attacks count?" Tina dipped her potato chip in the dregs of her Coke. "It's kind of dumb, but Blaine and Sam tickled me in the hallway."

"Kinky," Kitty grinned. "You know Blaine would just watch Sam's rock hard abs while you and he got your sweaty sexy times on, and Brittany could join in - "

Tina crossed her legs and ate her chips to hide the blush. "I never thought you were this awesome."

"Most people don't, not until they get to know me," Kitty said, half-sadly. 

"Or until you let them."

"See? You know me, because you're me," Kitty said. She refilled their cups and raised it to the dancing crowd, then to Tina. "Come on, give your new BFF a toast." They fake-clinked the rims. The girls in front of the stage fanned themselves with what was left of the fake money. It was getting hot and club-sweaty in here and dark. 

Joe and Jake were topping off the song: _And now it's clear as this promise/That we're making two reflections into one_

"So, vet school, huh?" Kitty said inquisitively. "Is there a story here? You eat meat, so it can't be because you think animals don't taste good."

Tina snorted. "I'll tell you later. Let's go play fooseball. Bitch against bitch."

IV  
One hour later, they'd turned on all the spotlights on the opposite side of the game room. Kitty and Tina were wearing holes in the fooseball table and screaming at each other. Ryder had drifted over to watch the game. He was trying to coach and they were studiously ignoring him. Sugar had grabbed a mike and she and Unique were pounding their way through more P!nk while Sam and Joe danced around like goofballs. 

"We're so happy that you and Sam are feeling better," Marley said. She was sitting on Jake's lap and she leaned back against him, looking content and sweet. 

"Your song helped," Jake chimed in, affectionately, into her hair. 

"I'd like to think so," Marley said, humming. "I always appreciated how - how nice you are, Blaine. You're so ready to help us out and keep us centered on the goal. It's great to see that karma works out."

"The whole thing was rough," Artie allowed. He picked through the bowl of M&Ms on his lap and found a red one. "But they're two badass playas." Jake frowned, but he high-fived Artie anyway. "Now it's on to bigger and better things. Regionals, prom, graduation, New York."

"I'll be here to keep everyone in line when you're all gone," Marley smiled. "We should have tons of fun in the time we've all got left together. More songs to write! And more parties so we can write songs about them."

"You're a lucky guy, Jake," Blaine smiled back, bopping his head slightly to the music. "Don't ever let this diamond go."

"So, romance situation?" Jake asked. "It's not fair that not everybody gets to have someone - oops."

Blaine's eyes darted to Sam and then down to his lap. His smile got rueful and he fiddled with his fingers. "It's complicated."

"Jake, you idiot," Marley said. "Be tactful! Blaine, whoever you choose to be with is going to be incredibly lucky too." She reached out and grabbed his hand to hold it tight. "Don't settle for anyone who's less than you."

"The Tina thing is complicated, I meant," Jake rattled on, not smoothly. "What she did...."

Blaine made a warning face. Marley's lips twitched, but she clapped her hand over his mouth. "I told you to behave yourself!" she hissed. Off to the side, Artie cracked an imaginary whip and bit down on his bottom lip. Jake laughed and pried her hand away. Marley wrapped his arm around her waist again: "And Sam with Brittany going off to MIT, that's so exciting."

"Brittany was with Santana for forever," Jake said, eyebrows up. "I heard she dumped her for Sam. Puck told me all about it."

"I never pegged Puckerman for a Muckraker," Artie laughed.

Blaine chuckled. "I don't think that was right, exactly."

"Brittany did dump her, right?" Jake got a confused look on his face. Artie's eyes met Blaine's and Artie shook his head, shoulders shaking with laughter. 

"Well, Santana wouldn't dump her, would she?" Marley said with disappointment. "She was so nice to me."

"Santana's like those chocolates you put in the freezer last month and forgot to take out," Artie said warmly. He held up another prize red M&M. "Once you put it out on the counter and it's melted a little, you realize she has a delicious caramel-filled center too."

Marley wrinkled her nose. "Awwwww," Blaine teased. "Does Santana know you love her that much?"

"She loves me now, but it wasn't always like that, that's for sure," Artie said fairly. "When we get to New York, Blaine, you and I will be spending a lot of time with her and Rachel and Kurt, so we'll hang out, have fun."

"The saying is, 'life's a box of chocolates', not people," Jake interjected. 

"I'd argue it's people," Blaine said wisely. "Santana's tough, she's been through a lot. But you just have to catch her in the right moment to realize she's the same as all of us. She just has - " Blaine shrugged, "extra sharp chocolatey prickles on the outside."

Jake tilted his head. "Wait a sec, why didn't Santana like Artie?"

"Brittany was dating me and Santana was in love with her," Artie said carelessly. "And well... I might have hurt Brittany's feelings, which was a douchey move." He sighed. "But she's great, and Sam's a lucky guy. And I have Kitty. Sort of. There was Tina, before that, and well, that one sorta hurt."

"Wow," Marley breathed. "There's so much I don't know! I want you to tell me _all the things_."

Artie had the grace to look discomfited and didn't reply. Jake groaned into Marley's shoulder. "Don't get into it, dude. When Puck explained all of the old New Directions - " he circled the room with his free arm - "he had to draw a map, and the arrows went everywhere and gave me a headache."

"Explaining would take forever, Marley, and that's all in the past." Blaine said briskly. "New Directions is us now. We'd never get to sing more karaoke if we got started. As honorary Rachel, I'll go and pick the next song." He slapped his thighs and nodded as he got up. 

"You are going to tell me about the Kurt thing, right, Jake? Artie?" Marley hissed as Blaine walked away towards the machine. A sweaty Sam and Joe clapped him on the back and they all clustered around to make the next selection. "I don't want to ask Tina because she'll bite my head off. You know how she is nowadays." 

Avril Lavigne roared in. "This is my jam!" Kitty yelled. She ran off towards the dancing floor. Kitty drowned out the start of Artie's halting explanation. Ryder grabbed Tina and they clumsily twirled around the fooseball table and into the middle of the room, so it was up to Blaine, Unique, Sugar and Joe to get it all started on the mikes while they all sang, raggedly, half out of breath, at top volume. 

_Singing Radiohead at the top of our lungs_  
 _With the boom box blaring as we're falling in love_

Marley and Artie raised imaginary glasses and Jake held her tight as they swayed in their seats. 

_I got a bottle of whatever, but it’s getting us drunk_  
 _Singing here's to never growing up_

Ryder dipped Tina again and they laughed breathlessly, but it got lost in the rush.

_Call up all our friends_  
 _Go hard this weekend_  
 _For no damn reason_ ,  
 _I don't think we'll ever change_

There was a far-off sound of someone pounding on a door somewhere. Unique turned the volume up and the windows rattled a little.

_Meet you at the spot,_  
 _Half past ten o'clock_  
 _We don't ever stop_ ,  
 _And we're never gonna change_

Kitty was jumping all over the stage and Joe's dreads were bouncing. 

_Say, oh just say forever, stay_  
 _If you stay forever, hey_  
 _We can stay forever young_

"Do you hear that?" Artie yelled. "It sounds like the door! I'll go get it!" Sugar nodded vaguely in his direction, but she was too busy just singing and singing. Quality didn't matter; sound mattered. 

_We'll be running down the street, yelling kiss my ass_  
 _I'm like yeah whatever, we're still living like that_  
 _When the sun's going down, we'll be raising our cups_  
 _Singing here's to never growing up_

"Guys!" Puck barrelled in with six-packs in both hands. Artie followed him with another six-pack on his lap.

Joe turned the volume down and they all stopped, open-mouthed. 

Puck screamed, "We're here! LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!" 

"Dude, I can't give them alcohol!" Finn strode in behind Artie. He stopped and waved at all of them cheerily. "Oh, hey, guys!"

"Who says these beers are for them? They're mine," Puck snorted. "They'll just have to break into the liquor cabinet themselves." He spied Jake and Marley on the sofa and straddled the arm of it. "Little bro! Marley! What's the happy haps, New New Directions?"

Kitty turned her back on Puck with a showy flip of her ponytail. He ignored her and took a hearty swig out of his bottle. Tina crossed her arms and planted her feet shoulder-width apart. She glared bullets. "You're an idiot! Why can't stupid ex-boyfriends leave us alone!" 

"Mike and his new girlfriend say hi to you too," Puck smirked. 

"Shouldn't you and Finn be going to college parties instead of hanging out with high school kids?"

"The Puckster will be at any New Directions party. You can count on that, my exotic Jewish-Asian princess." He mussed her hair. Finn stretched out his long legs on the sofa and nodded amiably to Marley and Jake. He found himself the open bag of Doritos and settled in to watch the fireworks play out. 

Tina slapped Puck's hand away. "Someone with an attention span longer than a fly's would have actually succeeded in California." 

"Look who grew claws and balls," Puck laughed. "Well, come on, let's see what you got."

"We'll go talk to Kitty and you get 'im," Unique said stoutly, and she and Sugar pulled Kitty off towards the pool table while they all tossed furtive looks that way and put arms about Kitty's shoulders. The rest of the kids (except Ryder, who was still prodding and poking around the lock of the liquor cabinet) were watching with unconcealed enjoyment or wide, incredulous eyes. Marley looked like she was mentally taking notes. 

Sam put his arm around Blaine's shoulders and they softly sang the rest of the song while they watched Tina and Puck bicker it out. 

_Oh woah oh woah here's to never growing up_  
 _Oh woah oh woah here's to never growing up_

"You won't lose these memories, that's for sure," Blaine said warmly.

"Nope. Here's to staying young forever, dude."

"When Ryder finally gets into the liquor cabinet, we'll drink to that."

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I do not own Glee, Archer, Zoolander, Monty Python, Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, P!nk, or Avril Lavigne.
> 
> S/N: I strongly suggest listening to the songs to get the full effect of this fic: 22 (Taylor Swift), Mirrors (Justin Timberlake), Here's to Never Growing Up (Avril Lavigne). They are all easily found on Spotify.


End file.
